The following chapter, while not graphic, will touch upon sensible topics. Please be aware.
There were screams around us. People begging for help, claiming the most outlandish of things. Nothing more than a desperate attempt at something other than what they had. Which was too little to even count.
Although our capes were of dubious quality, they were intrinsically better than the general attire (if one could call that to rags) in this part of the city. Amelia and her guards warned us about two things. Never engage and never do sudden movements or we would compromise our safety.
We complied.
But it was hard. Whenever I looked over at their hungry hope, I clutched my heart. Unfortunately, Amelia was probably right. "Hungry hope can turn into angry resentment in this place."
A place called "The Pit of Shadows."
We walked through the crowd that had formed around us, hands trying to touch us, trying to take our clothes, our objects, our life. Whatever they could. While the screams continued.
"My babies... my babies... Please help them!" pleaded a woman with a baby in her arms, pushing him to us.
"Help! Please! I am hungry!" shouted a man, trying to get my cape.
"I am the Mountnero's bastard." Exclaimed a woman from afar.
"I am a prince of distant lands." claimed another.
"I am carrying a prince of the sun." called a young girl, that was skin and bones.
It suffocated me, and my head spun at a high speed as the words banged against my brain.
If it weren't for Amelia's entourage and their pointy swords, scaring people away, I wasn't sure we could have passed through the square unscathed. I scanned the place, seeing several narrow exits. Each darker than the other. But all crumbling under the shadows, like a pit.
We got more space and air as we followed Amelia through one of the hidden streets. "The Pit of Shadows" had no order in size or any naming. This place was a maze, full of different routes for one to get lost. Its inhabitants made their houses with whatever they could find. Rotten wood, discarded boxes, broken bricks.
They appeared frail and about to fall if a stronger wind blew on these parts. In a way, it was a "blessing" that it never rained on the capital, because those makeshift buildings wouldn't protect anyone from it.
They were crooked and many times not finished, although no matter what, the eyes followed us as they did back on the carriage. The noises dissipated in weary silence. Our steps echoed through the dirty walls, catching stones, leaves, and trash along the way. Although a sunny afternoon, the light had dimmed, and it was hard to see past Amelia.
Silence broke when I heard a scuffle from a side street. It was a man, broad and stony, dragging something. I squinted my eyes to focus my vision and then I saw that it was not something he was dragging, but rather someone, a girl, who fought him furiously, while her body scratched the muddy ground.
My blood burned, and I left the group before I even heard the girl scream. Before hearing the warnings behind me. I was too immersed in the scene unfolding in front of my eyes for that. I took the small pistol I had latched onto my leg without Fanny knowing (there was no way I would have left my house with it otherwise), careful to avoid messing with my underskirt. The holster was still a prototype design.
"Silence bitch." the man said with a voice that resembled a horrible oik of a pig. I noticed as I came closer that he was yanking furiously at her skull with each pull. "You have to work your body again to pay for the food you ate."
My pistol was aimed at him, although I hadn't any recollection of when I had raised my arm. Only that I had enough of this place, of this misery. I tried... painfully I tried to overlook, to think of my problems. Yet I couldn't. This time I couldn't. No matter how little this would change, I couldn't.
Call me an idiot, call me whatever. I won't silence my rage.
So I called. "Hey! You shit head! Release the girl this instant!"
I didn't stop walking, and neither did he care for my order. Instead, he continued his attack on the girl who fought him, scratched him, and tried to bite his bulky fingers. When he was about to slap her, I yelled. "I SAID STOP YOU FUCKING SHIT."
That got his attention. Everyone's attention. He turned his head to me, his hand frozen mid-air, and he scowled. His oily face was as oily as the rest of his body. He was about to say something when his eyes wandered behind me. Most likely, to the girls and our entourage. I didn't care. Instead, my gaze veered down.
And a breath got caught in my mouth.
The girl who looked back at me, with her hands clawing at the man's arm, had freckles on her cheeks and nose, and long hair with a bronze quality beneath the layers of filth. And no matter the rags she used and how thin she had become, that was Raphaela of Rivera.
No... How...?
"Oh, my... What do I have here...." said the man, as he let go of Raphaela, opening and closing his hand as he took a step. "Are you a noble?"
I had barely taken notice of him. My eyes locked on the girl, whose expression showed recognition. Then, with my free hand, I touched my hood, realizing that it had fallen a little, showing a flock of grey hair and a glimpse of gold in my eyes.
Raphaela, while on the ground, straightened her back and pulled the half-ripped sleeve up her shoulder, her chin lifted in defiance.
The man's mouth opened in a wide smile, showing his yellow and rotten teeth. "Maybe I can help?" he asked, his breath foul as him.
"Shut up...." I murmured, not giving him any spec of attention. My hand was still raised and my pistol was still pointing. I was unrelentingly calm outside and a storm inside. A tempest of fury and anger, together with a mountain of guilt while trapped under Raphaela's stare.
"What is it, bitch?" asked the man, now switching to his real persona as he came closer and closer to me.
I heard Amelia on my side, threatening with a way too deep of a voice. "Move or..."
She didn't get to finish. There was no need. I had pulled the trigger and carved a bullet in his knee. He sat in pain while he grabbed his bleeding leg, his face distorted in pain, tears running down his face. At close range, the bullet would hurt, unlucky for him. It was worse than that because I had shot him with one of my newest creations. "The pain inducer". It wouldn't kill, but bloody hell could it hurt, and for much longer. A tricky thing to fabricate, yet worth it in every way right now.
I walked the very short distance to him, earing his wailing cries. Then I put the barrel on his forehead, and I hissed, "I said to shut the fuck up!"
And he did. He bit his lower lip as the pain swelled inside him. The tears bombarded outside his eyes, but there was nothing but a small whimper coming from him.
Two hooded ladies appeared out of thin air. One brought a hand to his mouth, and another prevented the man from moving. Not that he didn't try to wrestle them, but he was no match for the knights.
"Take him." ordered Amelia with a detached voice. "Make sure he doesn't cause problems."
The hooded ladies bowed and swiftly made the man pass out before they carried him away, under the darkness of the street.
Raphaela continued to be on the ground, a little dazzled by what had happened. She let her chin fall down and took several ragged breaths. Her eyes shut close and her hand rested over her heart as she calmed herself.
"Lady Raphaela, are you alright?" I asked, putting my pistol away and approaching with soft steps.
I extended my hand, and for some moments nothing happened until Raphaela opened her eyes, raised her head and was ready to attack me. And she would have succeeded if not for two more hooded ladies (where the heck did they come from?!) and Amelia. The first subduing her and the second putting herself in front of me as a form of a shield.
It was now as well, that I saw the little spider on the ground, her paws up and her body arched.
"You bitch!" cried Raphaela, while trying to fight the guards off her. "Because of you... You caused my ruin!" she screamed in anger, although underneath it I saw a sadness that cut deep.
I took a long breath, preparing myself for what could be one of the worst conversations in my life.
What did you think?
There is not much to say as it is all too sad. I just hope you found well written.
Again, as I warned before, these chapters will propel Lulu to something she wouldn't have done otherwise. They are important although they are sad.
But the good news is that I brought the chapter earlier again (still a long way to compensate for my lateness on the other chapters)! Hope this continues for some time XD